Anger Management

I rarely read the newspaper. This is a fact of which I am NOT proud. I realize I should be more well informed and that the world will go on around me if I am not careful. However, should I be ashamed to say that I much prefer looking at the pictures?

Perhaps it is due to countless years of schooling. Perhaps it is due to the fact that I learned to read at the age of six and have pretty much been doing it full time ever since. Is it so bad to not want to to add a daily newspaper to the barrage of information I am faced with daily?

Besides in my experience, the news has become ever more a parade of opinions as opposed to facts. So you can imagine my dismay when I found myself in a departure lounge at the airport stuck with a Globe and Mail in my lap.

In my defense, I was lured in by the fabulous colour photo of Marc Jacobs fall line strewn across the front page of the STYLE section. Flipping to said section of the paper involved parading past an article that, well, quite frankly, just pissed me off. Just when I thought it would be safe to read a newsprintвЂ¦

According to my friends at the Globe, there is in fact a clinic in downtown Toronto that charges $100 for intravenous vitamin infusions.

Yes dear sisters, you heard it here by way of my need to вЂњstay informedвЂќ. This is clearly the last time I will fall down the headline rabbit hole.

IN the province of Ontario there are approximately 856 NaturopathвЂ™s of which 156 are trained in Intravenous Therapy. This means you go into their offices, and have an IV cannula inserted into your vein after which you are hooked up to a вЂњcocktailвЂќ of saline and vitamins.

I kid you not that the article goes on to interviewвЂ¦ get this an MTV вЂњV.J.вЂќ who touts the benefit of said вЂњtreatmentвЂќ. His testimony can not be deniedвЂ¦. Yes, dear girlfriends, after 45 minutes of IV vitamin вЂњwhateverвЂќ he was truly a new man at this yearвЂ™s music awards. WTF?

To add insult to my rantвЂ¦. There is a photo above said story of a couple hooked up to said IVвЂ™s in barka loungers. He is checking his Ipod and she isвЂ¦. Wait for itвЂ¦ Breast Feeding. Enough said. Motherfucker.

Intravenous Mineral therapy according the the scientific evidence isвЂ¦. Bullshit at best. Firstly many of these minerals and vitamins in higher dosages have not shown any clinical benefit and secondly, our bodies were not made to absorb minerals and vitamins in this manner.

One of the claims of the therapy is that it allows for a convenient way to вЂњget all the necessary vitamins at onceвЂќ. Instead of вЂњlugging aroundвЂќ 18 bottles of multivitamins you can have all your cakeвЂ¦. And injected too!

LetвЂ™s rebutвЂ¦ Who the hell needs or even takes 18 multivitamins. To date there are only two studies supporting additional vitamin or mineral ingestion. Vitamin D (1000mg per day) has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer in women according to one large scale placebo controlled Canadian trial. In fact a recent position paper by the Canadian Osteoporosis foundation has suggested we increase our consumption of vitamin D to at least 800 mg per day and up to 2000 mg per day for people over the age of 50.

Calcium in women over 50 has been shown to improve bone health in a recommended dosage of 1500mg of elemental calcium per day.

A recent Danish study of almost 4000 senior showed a 25% reduction in development of Dementia in people who consumed 18 mg/day of Vitmain E.

LetвЂ™s do the mathвЂ¦.. this equated to 6 ounces of Salmon, 20 almonds, a glass of milk, a yogurt and a multivitamin daily.

If you are too busy to feed your body properly then give the body back. Someone else can surely use a perfectly good specimen. A one hundred dollar IV mineral therapy вЂњsecret sauceвЂќ in a downtown Toronto clinic that is endorsed by an MTV Video peronality and a busy PR agent is just, wellвЂ¦ both lazy and quite frankly yet another symbol of all that is wrong in the world.

And this- my cyber sisters is why I donвЂ™t read the newspaper. Although it is great fodder for my weekly medical rantsвЂ¦ it is quite honestly not worth the aggravation. I am not a fan of Naturopaths (let it be known) and this IV therapy is yet another source of my strife. Between the cost ($100 per shot) and the lack of scientific support on safety and efficacy I canвЂ™t help myself.

Where is the evidence? Since when did an MTV personality become the scientific source of this вЂњsnake oilвЂќ come вЂњchemotherapyвЂќ. Stick to introducing Lady GagaвЂ™s new video and I will sing only in the shower.

As for the Globe ad Mail? One might say I am now more well informed. I, would argue that I am just a little pissed off.